JPH0981400A - Virtual space communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate load concentration on a host computer by decentralizing data representing a virtual space and attribute data on objects to different computers for management and performing the management. SOLUTION: A computer 200 for data management manages a VRML file representing the virtual space and provides the VRML file for a client computer 10 through a network at a request from the client computer 10. The client computer 10 displays an image to which an object having changeable attribute data is added in the virtual space based upon the VRML file. The host computer 100 manages the attribute data on the object which is changed according to operation input to the client computer 10 to enable a user of the client computer 10 sharing the virtual space through the network N to communicate through the action of the object in the virtual space.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a virtual space in which a user of each computer can communicate in a virtual space constructed in a system composed of a plurality of computers connected via a network. Related to a communication system, more specifically, a graphical object that behaves according to a user's operation in a virtual space shared by a plurality of computers (for example,
A virtual space communication system that realizes communication between users of each computer through the action of this object using "avatar".

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called virtual space communication system has been proposed in which a user of each computer can communicate in a virtual space constructed in a system composed of a plurality of computers connected via a network. ing. The configuration of this conventional system is, for example, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 27, the host computer 10
0 and a plurality of client computers 10 are connected via a network N. Host computer 10
0 and each client computer 10 have secondary storage devices 101 and 20 (magnetic disk device, CD-
A ROM device or the like) is connected, and CG (computer graphic) data representing a virtual space (composed of a plurality of objects) is stored in each of the secondary storage devices 101 and 20. In the host computer 100, CG
Along with data management processing, processing necessary for communication between the client computers 10 as described below is performed.

On each of the client computers 10 sharing the virtual space area, an image of the same virtual space is displayed based on the CG data read from the secondary storage device 20. Then, for example, a graphical object called an avatar corresponding to each client computer 10 exists in the virtual space. The avatar acts (moves, talks, etc.) in the virtual space based on the operation by the user on the corresponding client computer 10.
The operation information (corresponding to the action of the avatar) input to one client computer 10 is sent to the host computer 100 via the network N. The host computer 100 transfers the operation information via the network N to another client computer 10 that shares the same virtual space with the client computer 10 that has transmitted the operation information. Another client computer 10 that has received the operation information from the network N
Then, the avatar makes the same action in the virtual space based on the operation information. As a result, communication is performed between the users of the client computer 10 sharing the virtual space through the actions (actions, conversations, etc.) of the avatar in the virtual space.

In the virtual space communication system as described above, since the host computer and each client computer have common CG data, there is no need to transmit the CG data between the computers via the network, The amount of communication has been reduced.

[0006]

However, in the conventional virtual space communication system as described above, the host computer performs not only the management process of the CG data but also the process related to the communication between the client computers, so that the virtual space is shared. If the number of client computers to be used or the amount of CG data to be managed increases, the load on the host computer is concentrated, which may hinder the processing.

When expanding or changing the virtual space to be shared by each client computer, a recording medium such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM in which the CG data of the expanded virtual space is recorded is recorded each time. It had to be distributed to the user of each client computer. Therefore, it has not been possible to flexibly deal with expansion and modification of the virtual space.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a virtual space communication system which eliminates the concentration of load on the host computer. A second object of the present invention is to provide a virtual space communication system capable of flexibly coping with expansion and modification of the virtual space.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above first object, the present invention provides a plurality of client computers each operated by a user and a first management computer as described in claim 1. And a second management computer are connected to each other via a network, and the first management computer manages the data expressing the virtual space and sends the data to the network in response to a request from each client computer. To each of the client computers via the first management computer, an image in which an object whose attribute data is changeable is added is displayed in the virtual space based on the data provided from the first management computer, Change the administrator computer based on the operation input on each client computer It manages attribute data of the object to the virtual space communication system for a user of the client computer to perform the communication through the action of an object in a virtual space to share the virtual space.

In such a virtual space communication system, the data representing the virtual space and the attribute data of the object that can be changed based on the operation input at each client computer are distributed to the first and second computers. Manage. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the processing related to data management from concentrating on a specific computer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, management of attribute data of an object that is frequently changed by operation input of each client computer is managed separately from data that represents a virtual space that is not frequently changed. As described above, in the virtual space communication system, the change of the attribute data of the object corresponding to the operation input at the client computer is provided to the second management computer via the network, and the second management computer is The fact that the attribute data has been changed and the changed attribute data are notified to other client computers sharing the virtual space.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, from the viewpoint that each client computer creates image data in which data representing a virtual space managed by different management computers and attribute data of each object are integrated. In the above virtual space communication system, each client computer has a virtual space including an object based on the data provided from the first management computer and the attribute data of the object to be managed by the second management computer. Is provided, and an image is displayed based on the image data.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, the present invention provides, as described in claim 5, in each of the virtual space communication systems, the virtual space created by each client computer in the virtual space communication system. The data representing the space is sent to the first management computer via the network, and the content of the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer is updated based on the received data.

In such a virtual space communication system, the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer can be changed from each client computer. Therefore, the virtual space shared by each client computer can be flexibly expanded or changed.

Even if the data representing the virtual space is updated by a certain client computer, the fact that other client computers sharing the virtual space can be notified of that fact is the first aspect of the present invention. When the content of the data representing the virtual space managed by the management computer is updated, the second management computer creates the virtual space based on the notification from the client computer that created the data representing the virtual space. The other shared client computers are notified that the content of the data representing the virtual space has been updated.

In order to prevent data having a relatively large amount of data such as a texture image or data of frequently used objects from being transferred on the network as much as possible, the upper virtual space communication as described in claim 7. In the system, the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer includes an identifier that identifies an image forming a part of the virtual space,
Each client computer holds data representing the image specified by the identifier in the secondary storage device, and displays the image of the virtual space based on the data provided from the first management computer via the network. At this time, the data specified by the identifier included in the data is read from the secondary storage device and used.

Further, in the virtual space communication system according to claim 7, from the viewpoint that each client can construct a virtual space with the latest data, as described in claim 8, the first management The data representing the virtual space managed by the dedicated computer includes version data representing the update history of the data identified by the identifier, and each client computer is identified by the identifier held in the secondary storage device. When the image of the virtual space is displayed on the basis of the data provided from the first management computer via the network, the version data representing the update history of the data is stored in the identifier stored in the secondary storage device. The update history represented by the version data of the data specified by If not older than the update data represented by the version data included in the data, and the data specified by the identifier as used read from the secondary storage device.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The overall system configuration is, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, a host computer 100, a data management computer 200, and a plurality of client computers 10 are network N
Connected through. The host computer 100 manages communication between client computers. The data management computer 200 performs management processing of CG data, and is connected to a secondary storage device 201 that stores CG data. A secondary storage device 20 storing CG data is connected to each client computer 10 as in the conventional system.

The host computer 100, the data management computer 200, and each client computer 1
0 is configured as shown in FIG. 2, for example. FIG.
In the host computer 100, the communication processing unit 1
1, command processing unit 112, object management unit 113
And a virtual space area table management unit 114. The communication processing unit 111 receives information from the network N and sends information to the network N. Command processing unit 1
Reference numeral 12 requests each unit to perform processing based on a command input from the network N. The object management unit 113 manages attributes, behaviors, and the like of objects (avatars) that are defined as corresponding to each client computer 10 and become the user's incarnation. The virtual space area table management unit 114 manages, for example, updating the virtual space area table indicating the relationship between each virtual space (area) that can be constructed in the system and the objects existing in the virtual space.

Each client computer 10 includes a communication processing unit 11, a command processing unit 12, a data management unit 13,
It has an object control unit 14, a virtual space area management unit 15, and a display processing unit 16. The data management unit 13 includes a secondary storage device 2 such as a magnetic disk device or a CD-ROM device.
0, which manages data to be written to the secondary storage device 20 and data to be read from the secondary storage device 20. The object control unit 14 is connected to an input device (including a keyboard unit, a microphone, etc.) 30, and information (position, conversational sentence, action, etc.) about the action (attribute) of the avatar corresponding to the operation information input from the input device 30. ) And the attributes of the objects in the shared virtual space based on the information from the command processing unit 12. The display processing unit 16 is connected to the display device 40 and causes the display device 40 to display each object forming the virtual space and an object (avatar) acting in the virtual space on the display device 40 based on the CG data.

The communication processing unit 11 of each client computer 10 receives information from the network N and sends the information to the network. Command processing unit 1
2 requests each unit to perform processing based on a command provided via the network N.

Further, the virtual space area management unit 15 manages the attributes of each object in the virtual space shared with other client computers. The virtual space area management unit 15 has an object table, which will be described later, for its management.

The data management computer 200 has a communication processing unit 211, a command processing unit 212, and a data management unit 213. The data management unit 213 is connected to the secondary storage device 201 in which CG data is stored, and manages CD data that defines a virtual space. The communication processing unit 211 receives information from the network N and sends information to the network N, like the host computer 100 and each client computer 10. The command processing unit 212 also requests each unit to perform processing based on a command provided via the network N, similarly to the host computer 100 and each client computer 10.

As the data managing computer 200, for example, a WWW (World Wide Web) server computer is used. In addition, for example, VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is used as a data format that defines each object that configures the virtual space.

In the virtual space communication system as described above, when participating in communication in a virtual space already constructed from a client computer, for example, processing is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, first, a transfer request for a VRML file F1 that describes a virtual space V that a user tries to enter is transmitted from the client computer 10 (1) used by the user to the data management computer 200 via the network N. (). In response to this transfer request, the data management computer 200 reads the requested VRML file F1 from the secondary storage device 201 (). Then, this read VRM
The L file F1 is transferred from the data management computer 200 via the network N to the client computer 10 (1) which issued the transfer request (). When the client computer 10 (1) receives the VRML file F1 describing the desired virtual space V from the network N, the VRML file F1 is interpreted to generate the virtual space V, and the image of the virtual space V is displayed on the display device 40. Is displayed on the screen (). In addition, an object table that lists objects (avatars) corresponding to other client computers already existing in this virtual space V and objects corresponding to a user (client computer 10 (1)) newly entering the virtual space V is generated. To be done. This object table is configured as shown in FIG. 4, for example.

In FIG. 4, in the object table, objects 1, objects 2 ,. . . And a pointer value that specifies the storage position of the attribute data of each object are described so as to correspond to each other. The structure of the attribute data of each object is a combination of an identifier (character / voice / position) indicating the data format of the attribute data, its data length, and data (character data / voice data / position data). ing.

When such an object table is generated in the client computer 10 (1),
The client computer 10 (1) notifies the host computer 100 via the network N that the object corresponding to the client computer 10 (1) has entered the virtual space V (). The host computer 100 that has received such a notification adds a new object to the virtual space area table T showing the relationship between each virtual space (area) and the objects existing in that virtual space, and adds the new object to the virtual space area table T. Update (). This virtual space area table is configured, for example, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, in the virtual space area table, each area (virtual space) S1, S2 ,. . . , SN existing (shared) are described in a list format.
The data related to each object is composed of a pointer value indicating the position of the next object, an object ID specifying the object, an address specifying the client computer that operates the object, and attribute data indicating the position of the object.

When the virtual space area table is updated in the host computer 100 as described above, it is sent to another client computer that shares the virtual space V in which a new object has entered, for example, the client computer 10 (2). The host computer 100 notifies via the network N that a new object has been added to the virtual space V (,). And
Client computer 10 (2) that received the notification
Adds a new object to its own object table (see FIG. 4).

In the processing according to the above procedure,
The processing (in FIG. 3) in response to the VRML file transfer request in the data management computer 200 is specifically performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 6, for example. In FIG. 6, the communication processing unit 211 receives a transfer request R1 of the VRML file F1 from the network N from the client computer 10 (1) (c1) (S1). Then, the transfer request R1 is provided to the command processing unit 212, and the command processing unit 212 determines that the file F1 that is the target of the request to the data management unit 213 is the secondary storage device 2
It is inquired whether it exists in 01 (S2). As a result, if the file F1 exists in the secondary storage device 201 (S4), the command processing unit 212 issues a transfer request for the file F1 read from the secondary storage device 201 by the data management unit 213. The communication processing unit 211 is instructed to transfer to the client computer 10 (1) (S5). Then, the communication processing unit 211 sends the file F1 read from the secondary storage device 201 to the network N as data addressed to the client computer 10 (1) according to the instruction from the command processing unit 212 (S6).

On the other hand, the transfer request R from the data management unit 213
If the file F1 related to No. 1 does not exist in the secondary storage device 201 (S4), the command processing unit 212 determines the transfer request R
The communication processing unit 211 is instructed to return an error signal to the client computer 10 (1) that issued 1 (S3).

The format of the transfer request R1 issued by the client computer 10 (1) is, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, communication type data (1 byte) indicating a transfer request, an address (4 bytes) identifying the client computer 10 (1) that issued the transfer request, and data length data (2 bytes) indicating the length of the file name. And a file name (character data) are connected in series.

In a client computer,
When the operation of moving the object in the virtual space is performed, for example, the process is executed according to the procedure shown in FIG. In the client computer 10 (1), when an object (avatar) corresponding to the client computer 10 (1) is moved in the virtual space V by an input operation using the input device 30, (), the movement of the object is 10 (1) notifies the host computer 100 via the network N (). Upon receiving this notification, the host computer 100 updates the position data of the attribute data of the object in the virtual space area table included therein in correspondence with the movement (). Then, by referring to the virtual space area table, another client computer sharing this virtual space V, for example, the client computer 10 (2),
The movement of the object is notified from the host computer 100 (,). In the client computer 10 (2) receiving this notification, the position data of the attribute data of the moved object in the object table (see FIG. 4) is updated so as to correspond to the movement.
Then, the object corresponding to the client computer 10 (1) moves according to the updated attribute data (position data) on the display screen of another client computer 10 (2) sharing the virtual space V. That is, when an object is moved in the virtual space V by the operation of the client computer 10 (1), the object moves in the virtual space V in the same manner in all the client computers sharing this virtual space V. .

In the above-described processing procedure, the processing (,) of updating the virtual space area table and notifying the object movement in the host computer 100 is specifically performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 9, for example. In FIG. 9, the communication control unit 111 has a client computer 1
P of the coordinate position of the corresponding object 1 from 0 (1)
The change request R2 (movement) to (x, y, z) is received via the network N (S11). In response to the change request R2, the command processing unit 112 changes the position data of the attribute data of the object 1 in the virtual space area table to P (x, y, z) (S12). Then, the virtual space area table management unit 114 refers to the virtual space area table to check for client computers sharing the same area as the area (virtual space) in which the object 1 is included (S13). Based on the result, the command processing unit 1
12 gives the communication processing unit 111 a notification N1 that the coordinate position of the object 1 has changed to all client computers sharing the same area (S14). Upon receiving the notification N1, the communication processing unit 111 sends the notification N1 to the network N to all client computers sharing the same area (S).
15).

The format of the change request R2 issued by the client computer 10 (1) is, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, communication type data (1 byte) indicating a change request, object ID (2 bytes) identifying the object 1 to be changed, change attribute ID (1 byte) indicating the type of attribute to be changed, data Has a structure in which the data length data (2 bytes) and the change data (x, y, z) representing the length of the are linked in series. The format of the notification N1 issued from the host computer 100 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, items other than the communication type data indicating the notification are the same as the change request R2 shown in FIG.

By changing the attribute data of each object in the virtual space (area) constructed in the system consisting of the plurality of client computers 10, host computer 100 and data management computer 200, the user of each client computer can Communicate. In this case, change of each attribute data is
Basically, like the position data, which is one of the attribute data, it is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. Furthermore, specifically, it is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 12, in the client computer 10 (1), the user 1 who controls the object 1 uses the input device 30 to input character data or voice data corresponding to, for example, a conversational sentence (S2).
1). The object control unit 14 sets the input information (voice data or character data) as attribute data in the entry of the object 1 in the object table (see FIG. 4) (S22). After that, the communication processing unit 11 receives a request from the command processing unit 12 and transmits the attribute change notification N2 of the object 1 and its attribute data (character data or voice data) to the host computer 100 via the network N ( S23). Then, the display processing unit 16 displays a character (representing a conversation sentence) on the display screen of the display device 40 so as to correspond to the object 1 based on the attribute data of the object 1 in the object table, or the display device 40. The voice corresponding to the conversational sentence is output from the speaker attached to (S2
4).

As described above, the host computer 10
The change notification N2 and the attribute data transmitted to 0 are received by the communication control unit 111 of the host computer 100 (S25). The virtual space area table management unit 114 refers to the virtual space area table (see FIG. 5) and refers to another client computer 10 that shares the same virtual space as the object 1.
Find (2). Then, in accordance with the request from the command processing unit 112, the communication processing unit 111 transmits the attribute change notification N2 of the object 1 and the attribute data received to the client computer 10 (2) (S2).
6).

In the client computer 10 (2), the communication processing unit 11 receives the attribute change notification N2 and the attribute data of the object 1 sent from the host computer 100 via the network N (S27). The object control unit 14 changes the attribute data set in the entry of the object 1 of the object table to the received attribute data based on the attribute change notification N2 of the object 1 (S28). Then, the display processing unit 1
6 displays characters (representing a conversation sentence) on the display screen of the display device 40 so as to correspond to the object 1 based on the attribute data of the object 1 in the object table,
Alternatively, a voice corresponding to the conversational sentence is output from the speaker attached to the display device 40 (S29). As a result, the user 2 of the client computer 10 (2) reads the conversational sentence displayed on the display screen so as to correspond to the object 1 or hears the voice corresponding to the conversational sentence output from the speaker. Can obtain information from the user of the client computer 10 (1).

According to the above processing, the information input from each client computer can be transmitted to the users of the client computers sharing the same virtual space through the action of the object. As a result, communication is performed between users of a plurality of client computers.

The format of the object attribute change notification N2 is, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 13, communication type data (1 byte) indicating a change notification, an address (4 bytes) that identifies the client computer that changed the attribute of the object, the data length (2 bytes) of the changed attribute data, and the changed The attribute data (variable length) is connected in series.

Further, the client computer integrates the VRML file describing the virtual space and the attribute data of the object to create a CG (computer graphic) image of the virtual space in which the object exists. The process is performed according to the procedure of FIG. 14, for example.

For example, the client computer 10
Between (1) and the data management computer 200, a VRML file reading process that defines a virtual space area is executed according to, in FIG. That is, in FIG. 14, the client computer 10
(1) sends a transfer request for the VRML file F1 defining the virtual space area S1 to the data management computer 200 via the network N (S0). When the data management computer 200 receives this transfer request, the data management computer 200 stores the requested VRML file F1 according to the procedure shown in FIG.
VRML file F1 read from 1
To the client computer 10 (1) (S
6).

In the client computer 10 (1), when the communication processing unit 11 outputs the transfer request and then receives the VRML file F1 from the data management computer 200, the virtual space management unit 15 receives the received VRM.
The L file F1 is read, and the CG model M1 of the virtual space area S1 is generated based on the file data (S
31).

Then, the command processing section 12 determines whether or not the current attributes (position, shape, etc.) of the object 1 are changed by an input operation by the user (S32). Here, if it has changed, the communication processing unit 11 sends a request for changing the attribute data of the object 1 to the host computer 100 based on the request from the command processing unit 12 (S).
20). The host computer 100 receiving the change request for the object 1 follows the processing procedure shown in FIG.
Attribute (position, shape, etc.) of object 1 to all client computers sharing the same virtual space area S1
The change is notified (S15).

The virtual space management unit 15 of the client computer 10 (1) further generates a CG model M2 relating to this object (a person called an avatar, an animal, etc.) from the current attributes (position, shape, etc.) of the object 1. (S34). After that, the CG model M1 generated from the VRML file F1 and the CG model M2 generated based on the attribute data of the object 1 are displayed on the display processing unit 1.
6 is provided. Then, the display processing unit 16 performs the drawing process of the CG image using the CG models M1 and M2. As a result, a CG image in which the specific object 1 exists in the virtual space area S1 as attribute data is displayed on the screen of the display device 40.

The VRML file defining the virtual space area is described as follows, for example. Separator {PerspectiveCamera {(viewpoint information) → position 0 10 50 → orientation 0 0 1 0 (clipping information) → nearDistance 10 → farDistance 100} Separator {(color information) → Material {diffuseColor 0.5 0.7 0.3} (shape information) → Cube {width 100 height 30 depth 40} Further, the CG models M1 and M2 generated based on the VRML file and the attribute data of the object have a structure as shown in FIG. 15, for example. That is, the positions, orientations, surface structures, shapes, colors, etc. of objects (objects) and avatars (objects) that make up the virtual space are described in a list format.

Next, in the virtual space communication system according to the present embodiment, the user can create a new virtual space in the client computer and share the virtual space with other client computers. The processing is performed, for example, according to the procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 16, the VRML file F1 defining a new virtual space area created by the client computer 10 (1) is transmitted to the data management computer 200 via the network N (). The data management computer 200 having received this VRML file F1 checks whether or not a VRML file having the same file name as the file name F1 exists in the secondary storage device 201. If present, the VRM
Change the contents of the L file to the contents of the received file. Also, if it does not exist, the received VRM
The L file F1 is newly registered (created) (). Then, the processing result is the data management computer 200.
Is sent from the client computer 10 (1) that sent the new VRML file ().

The client computer 10 that has received the processing result of the data management computer 200
(1) is the VRML file F based on the processing result.
When recognizing that the update of 1 is recognized, the host computer 100 is notified that the VRML file F1 defining the virtual space V has been updated (). Upon receiving this notification, the host computer 100 refers to the virtual space area table (see FIG. 5) and sends this VRML file to another client computer 10 (2) sharing the virtual space V described in this VRML file F1. Notify that F1 has been updated ().

In this way, each client computer 1 notified that the VRML file F1 has been updated
In 0 (2), the fact is notified to the user as a message. Then, if the user desires communication in the updated virtual space, the updated VRML file F1 is downloaded from the data management computer 200 to the client computer 10 (2) by the operation of the user (). Also, unless the user specifically wants to communicate in an updated virtual space,
The user does not have to perform the operation for downloading the updated VRML file F1. in this case,
In the client computer 10 (2), the virtual space before update is maintained as it is.

In the above-described processing, the data management computer 200 specifically executes the processing () according to the procedure shown in FIG. 17, for example. In FIG. 17, the communication processing unit 211 receives the update request R3 of the VRML file F1 from the client computer 10 (1) (S41). The command control unit 212 inquires of the data management unit 213 whether or not the file F1 relating to the request exists in the secondary storage device 201 (S4).
2). Then, the data management unit 213 causes the file F1
When the existence of the command is confirmed (S45), the command processing unit 212
Updates the file F1 according to the update request R3 (S44). On the other hand, the data management unit 2 confirms that the file F1 related to the update request R3 does not exist in the secondary storage device 201.
When 13 confirms (S45), the command processing unit 212
Registers (stores) the file F1 related to the update request R3 in the secondary storage device (S43).

When the update or new registration of the file 1 related to the update request R3 is completed as described above, the command processing unit 2
Based on the request of 12, the communication processing unit 211 determines that the update request R
The client computer 10 (1) is notified that the update of the file F1 related to No. 3 has succeeded as a processing result (S46).

The format of the update request R3 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is as shown in 8. In FIG. 18, communication type data (1 byte) indicating an update request, an address (4 bytes) specifying a client computer issuing an update request, data length of file name (2 bytes), file name (variable length), virtual space Has a structure in which the data length (2 bytes) of the data for describing the virtual space and the data (variable length) for describing the virtual space are serially connected.

Further, in the processing relating to the update of the file, the client computer 1 which outputs an update request
The process of 0 (1) is specifically executed according to the procedure of FIG. 19, for example. In FIG. 19, the communication processing unit 11
Then, the update request R3 of the VRML file F1 is transmitted to the data management computer 200 (S40). Data management computer 2 that has received this update request R3
00 updates the VRML file F1 according to the procedure shown in FIG. Then, the client computer 10 determines that the update processing is successful as a processing result.
Notify (1) (S46). The communication processing unit 11 of the client computer 10 (1) receives the processing result from the data management computer, and the command processing unit 12
Confirms that the file F1 has been updated successfully (S51),
According to the request from the command processing unit 12, the communication processing unit 11 sends a notification N3 of the update of the VRML file F1 to the host computer 100 (S52).

When the host computer 100 receives the update notification N3 from the client computer 10 (1) from the network N, the update notification is sent to other client computers sharing the virtual space area defined by the VRML file, as described above. N3 is transmitted from the host computer 100 (S53).

The format of the update notification N3 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is as shown in 0. In FIG. 20, communication type data indicating an update notification (1 byte), an address specifying a client computer issuing an update notification (4 bytes), and data length of an updated file name (2 bytes)
And the updated file names (variable length) are connected in series.

Among the CG data representing the virtual space, the CG data having a relatively large amount of data such as texture images and the CG data of frequently used objects are stored in each client computer 10 and the data management computer 2.
00 may be stored in the secondary storage devices 20 and 201 in advance. In this case, in order to form a CG image corresponding to the virtual space, each client computer executes processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. 21, for example.

In FIG. 21, V which defines a virtual space area from the communication processing unit 11 of the client computer 10 is used.
The transfer request R1 for the RML file F2 is sent to the data management computer 200 (S0). When the data management computer 200 receives the transfer request R1 from the client computer 10, the data management computer 200 executes processing according to the procedure shown in FIG.
The VRML file F2 associated with the transfer request R1 is transferred to the client computer 10 that is the source of the transfer request R1 (S6).

The communication processing unit 11 of the client computer 10 sends the VRM from the data management computer 200.
The L file F2 is received, and the command processing unit 12 reads the received VRML file F2 (S61). Here, if the VRML file F2 has an identifier for specifying data (for example, texture image data), the data management unit 13 refers to the data identifier table and stores the data specified by the identifier in the secondary storage device 20. Read from. Then, the CG model M3 expressing the virtual space area S2 is generated based on the VRML file F2 received by the virtual space area management unit 15 and the data read from the secondary storage device 20. Then, the virtual space area S2 is displayed on the screen of the display device 40 by the drawing processing of the display processing unit 16 based on the CG model M3.

CG data such as texture image data corresponding to the identifier that can be included in the VRML file F2 is managed using a data identifier table. As shown in FIG. 22, this data identifier table includes an identifier (for example, TEXTURE-ID) for specifying data and a storage location (for example, /data/texture.rgb) of the data in the secondary storage device 20. It shows the relationship.

A VRML file including an identifier for specifying the above data is described as follows, for example. Separator {PerspectiveCamera {(viewpoint information) → position 0 10 50 → orientation 0 0 1 0 (clipping information) → nearDistance 10 → farDistance 100} Separator {(color information) → Material {diffuseColor 0.5 0.7 0.3} (shape information) → Cube {width 100 height 30 depth 40} (texture information) → Txture2 TXTURE-ID {filename "file: // data txture. Rgb"} As described above, CG with a large amount of information such as texture images
Data, CG data of frequently used objects, etc. are stored in the secondary storage device 20 of each client computer 10.
The data amount to be downloaded through the network N is reduced and the processing in the client computer is reduced.

Even if the CG data specified by the identifier is updated in another client computer, the latest CG data can be used to obtain a CG image corresponding to the virtual space. In this case, in order to form a CG image corresponding to the virtual space, each client computer executes processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. 23, for example.

In FIG. 23, V which defines a virtual space area from the communication processing unit 11 of the client computer 10 is used.
The transfer request R1 for the RML file F3 is sent to the data management computer 200 (S0). When the data management computer 200 receives the transfer request R1 from the client computer 10, the data management computer 200 executes processing according to the procedure shown in FIG.
The VRML file F3 associated with this transfer request R1 is transferred to the client computer 10 that is the source of the transfer request R1 (S6).

The communication processing unit 11 of the client computer 10 sends the VRM from the data management computer 200.
The L file F3 is received, and the command processing unit 12 reads the received VRML file F3 (S71). As a result, when it is detected that the data identifier is described in the VRML file F3 (S72), the version number of the data specified by the data identifier described in the VRML file F3 and the data identifier table T3 that the client computer 10 has. The version numbers of the corresponding data shown in are compared (S73).

As for the version number, the data is the client computer 10 or the data management computer 2.
It is incremented each time it is updated with 00. If the data is updated on the client computer,
The version number of the data identifier table T3 included in the client computer is changed. Then, the change is notified to the data management computer 200. Further, when the data is updated by the data managing computer 200, and when the client computer or the data managing computer 200 is notified that the data is updated, the data identifier table T4 included in the data managing computer 200. The version number of is changed.

The data identifier tables T3 and T4 of each client computer 10 and the data management computer are constructed as shown in FIG. 24, for example. That is, the identifier (TEXTURE-ID), the storage location (/ data / texrure, rgb) of the data specified by the identifier, and the version number (1) of the data specified by the identifier are described.

As described above, the version number described in the data identification table T3 of the client computer 10 is smaller than the version number of the data described in the VRML file F3 (the client computer 10).
Is found to be old) (S74),
At the request of the command processing unit 12, the communication processing unit 11
To the VRML file F3 from the data identifier I
The data transfer request R4 specified by D is transferred to the data management computer 20 (S75).

When the data management computer 200 receives the transfer request R4 from the client computer 10, the data corresponding to the identifier included in the transfer request R4 is transferred from the secondary storage device 201 by referring to the data identifier table T4. read out. Then, the read data (which should be the latest version) and the latest version number are transferred from the data management computer 200 to the client computer 10 that issued the transfer request R4 (S76).

When the communication processing unit 11 of the client computer 10 receives the data specified by the data identifier ID and its version number from the data management computer 20, the command processing unit 12 causes the data identifier table T to be displayed.
The version number of the data identified by the data identifier ID of 3 is updated to the latest version number received (S77). Then, the received data is stored (downloaded) in the secondary storage device 20. After that, the data management unit 13 refers to the data identifier table T3 and reads the data (CG data) specified by the data identifier ID from the secondary storage device 20 (S78). The virtual space area management unit 15 generates a CG model M3 representing the virtual space area S2 based on the received VRML file F3 and the CG data read from the secondary storage device 20.
Then, the virtual space area S corresponding to this CG model M3
The two CG images are displayed on the display device 40 of the client computer 10.

The format of the transfer request R4 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 25, communication type data (1 byte) indicating a transfer request, an address (4 bytes) specifying a client computer issuing a transfer request, an identifier ID (2 bytes) of data related to the transfer request, and data related to the transfer request It has a structure in which version numbers (1 byte) are connected in series.

Further, the VRML file including the identifier for identifying the data and the version number of the data is described as follows, for example. Separator {PerspectiveCamera {(viewpoint information) → position 0 10 50 → orientation 0 0 1 0 (clipping information) → nearDistance 10 → farDistance 100} Separator {(color information) → Material {diffuseColor 0.5 0.7 0.3} (shape information) → Cube {width 100 height 30 depth 40} (texture information) → Txture2 TXTURE-ID: 1 {filename "file: // data txture rgb"} ↑ (texture ID and version number) As above, the data is the version number By managing the update state of, even if the data specified by the identifier ID is updated by another client computer or a data management computer, the latest data is always used to generate a CG image representing a virtual space. Can be generated.

In the above embodiment, the number of the data management computer 200 for managing the CG data representing the virtual space was one in the network N (see FIG. 1), but as shown in FIG. Computer 201
(1), 201 (2) ,. . . It is also possible to provide 200 (n) in the network N. In this case, there are a plurality of persons (operators of the data management computer) who provide the virtual space, and it is possible to provide a variety of virtual spaces to each client computer.

[0074]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, the data representing the virtual space and the attribute data of the object are distributed to the first and second management computers for management. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the management processing from being concentrated on a specific computer.

According to the invention described in claim 5, the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer can be updated from each client computer and shared by each client computer. It is possible to flexibly expand or change the virtual space to be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a virtual space communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of a client computer, a data management computer, and a host computer included in the virtual space communication system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a procedure of processing for entering a virtual space from a client computer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an object table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a virtual space area table.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of a data management computer responding to a file transfer request from a client computer.

7 is a diagram showing a data structure of a transfer request issued from a client computer in the processing procedure of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing procedure accompanying movement of an object in a virtual space.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a processing procedure in a host computer when an object is moved in a virtual space.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data structure of a position change request used for moving an object in a virtual space.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a data structure of a position change notification used for moving an object in a virtual space.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for changing an attribute of an object in a virtual space.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a data structure of a change notification used for an attribute change process of an object in a virtual space.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for representing a virtual space and an object by a CG image on a client computer.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a structural example of a CG model.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for updating a VRML file representing a virtual space by a client computer.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of a data management computer when a VRML file update request is issued from a client computer.

FIG. 18: V issued from client computer
It is a figure which shows the data structure example of the update request of an RML file.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of the client computer which has received from the data management computer a notification that the update of the VRML file has succeeded.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a VRML file update notification transmitted from a client computer to a host computer.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a processing procedure for creating CG data representing a virtual space in a client computer based on a VRML file provided from a data management computer and CG data included in the client computer.

22 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a data identifier table used in the processing shown in FIG.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing another processing procedure in the client computer for creating CG data representing a virtual space based on the VRML file provided from the data management computer and the CG data possessed by the client computer.

24 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a data identifier table used in the processing shown in FIG.

25 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a transfer request issued from a client computer in the processing shown in FIG.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration example of a virtual space communication system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration example of a conventional virtual space communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 client computer 11 communication processing unit 12 command processing unit 13 data management unit 14 object control unit 15 virtual space area management unit 16 display processing unit 20 secondary storage device 30 input device 40 display device 100 host computer 111 communication processing unit 112 command processing Part 113 Object management part 114 Virtual space area table management part 200 Data management computer 201 Secondary storage device 211 Communication processing part 212 Command processing part 213 Data management part

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takashi Ohno 1015 Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor, Akinori Iwakawa 1015, Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujitsu Limited

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of client computers each operated by a user, a first management computer, and a second management computer are connected to each other via a network, and the first management computer is a virtual space. Managing the data expressing the above, and providing the data to the client computer via the network in response to a request from each client computer, and each client computer is based on the data provided from the first management computer. An image in which an object whose attribute data can be changed is added is displayed in the virtual space, and the second management computer manages the attribute data of the object that is changed based on the operation input on each client computer. Each client computer that shares the space A virtual space communication system that allows users to communicate through the actions of objects in the virtual space. 2. The virtual space communication system according to claim 1, wherein the change of the attribute data of the object corresponding to the operation input at the client computer is provided to the second management computer via the network, The management computer is a virtual space communication system configured to notify the other client computers sharing the virtual space that the attribute data has been changed and the changed attribute data. 3. The virtual space communication system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the attribute data of the object includes a position and a shape of the object in the virtual space, voice information of a word spoken by the object, and character information. 4. The virtual space communication system according to claim 1, wherein each client computer has data provided from the first management computer and an object to be managed by the second management computer. A virtual space communication system having a means for generating image data representing a virtual space including the object based on the attribute data, and displaying an image based on the image data. 5. The virtual space communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein data representing a virtual space created by each client computer is sent to a first management computer via a network to perform a first management. Virtual space communication system adapted to update the contents of data representing a virtual space managed by a computer for reception based on the received data. 6. The virtual space communication system according to claim 5, wherein when the content of the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer is updated, the client computer creating the data representing the virtual space. A virtual space communication system in which the second management computer notifies other client computers sharing the virtual space that the content of the data representing the virtual space has been updated based on the notification from. 7. The virtual space communication system according to claim 1, wherein the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer specifies an image forming a part of the virtual space. Each client computer, including an identifier, holds data representing the image identified by the identifier in the secondary storage device, and the virtual space is based on the data provided from the first management computer via the network. When displaying the image, the virtual space communication system is configured to read the data specified by the identifier included in the data from the secondary storage device and use the data. 8. The virtual space communication system according to claim 7, wherein the data representing the virtual space managed by the first management computer is version data representing an update history of the data specified by the identifier. Each client computer holds version data representing an update history of the data specified by the identifier held in the secondary storage device, and is based on the data provided from the first management computer via the network. When an image of the virtual space is displayed by using the update history represented by the version data of the data identified by the identifier stored in the secondary storage device is included in the data provided from the first management computer. Secondary storage of the data specified by the identifier when it is not older than the update data represented by the version data Virtual space communication system as adapted to use with read placed et al. 9. The virtual space communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of the first management computers, and data representing the virtual space can be provided from a plurality of computers to each client computer from a network. Virtual space communication system.